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Republican Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley sent President Donald Trump a letter Monday asking why two Inspectors General had been relieved of their positions without notifying Congress.
Trump announced his intention to fire State Department Inspector General Steve Linick Friday, a move expected to go into effect within the next 30 days, but did not explain why he made the decision. Grassley said the Senate is also still waiting for an explanation for the firing of Inspector General Michael Atkinson, which happened in April.
Grassley's letter referred to Inspectors General as "the ultimate swamp drainers" as their positions call for the detection of waste and malfeasance in a non-partisan fashion. "Removal of IGs without explanation could create a chilling effect in the oversight community," Grassley wrote, "and risks decreasing the quantity, quality, fidelity, and veracity of their reports."
According to the letter, Trump is required to give Congress an explanation why he has chosen to remove an Inspector General, something Trump has yet to provide. Grassley asked for an explanation for Linick's firing to be given by the end of May, as well as reasoning for Atkinson's firing as soon as possible.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi received a letter from President Trump on Friday, stating that he no longer had the "fullest confidence" in Linick, but gave no further explanation. Pelosi said Trump's firing of Linick could be illegal if it is shown to be a retaliatory action.
"The president has the right to fire any federal employee," Pelosi told CBS News on Sunday, "but the fact is if it looks like it's in retaliation for something that the IG, the Inspector General, is doing, that could be unlawful."
In a Friday statement, Pelosi said Linick's firing was part of Trump's "dangerous pattern of retaliation against the patriotic public servants charged with conducting oversight on behalf of the American people."
Democrats have opened an investigation into Linick's dismissal. Democratic Representative Eliot Engel of New York and Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey said in an open letter on Saturday that Linick had recently opened an investigation into possible wrongdoing by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. They called Linick's removal "transparently designed to protect Secretary Pompeo from personal accountability."
Representative Engel tweeted Monday that Linick may have been fired for investigating Pompeo's role in an emergency action proposed by Trump to sell $8.1 billion worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia in 2019. Under the emergency action, the approval of Congress would not be required. At the time, Pompeo said the deal would "support our allies" and "enhance Middle East stability."
Engel said the IG's office was looking into "Trump's phony emergency declaration so he could send Saudi Arabia weapons. We don't have the full picture yet, but it's troubling that Sec Pompeo wanted Linick pushed out."
I've learned there may be another reason for IG Linick’s firing. His office was investigating—at my request—Trump’s phony emergency declaration so he could send Saudi Arabia weapons. We don’t have the full picture yet, but it’s troubling that Sec Pompeo wanted Linick pushed out. https://t.co/YBs9k45Tko
— Eliot Engel (@RepEliotEngel) May 18, 2020
Newsweek reached out to the White House and the offices of Senator Grassley and Representative Engel for comment. This story will be updated with any response.
Linick's removal follows the April firing of Inspector General Michael Atkinson, who originally brought a whistleblower's complaint about a telephone call between Trump and Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy to the attention of Congress. That complaint eventually led to impeachment proceedings being brought against President Trump.
